Death and the maiden
by rohandalvi
Summary: This is a Root and Shaw story set in an alternate universe. Root is a lonely IT professional who also has certain dark tendencies. One night she happens to meet Death who looks a lot like Shaw. She instantly falls in love with her and now has to figure out a way to attract her attention.
1. Chapter 1

The days were boring and the nights were boring and lonely.

Samantha Groves had always been a loner. She was an IT consultant and a programmer working for one of countless IT firms in Silicon Valley. She wasn't particularly social and had never really liked people in general. She had tried dating few times with both guys and girls. She realized that she preferred girls. But either ways she hadn't found anyone she got along with.

Up until a few months back she didn't even mind being alone, but somehow in the past few months she had started to feel the loneliness. She had tried the whole dating thing again but with no luck. So, she had gone back to her daily life and accepted her fate for the time being.

She was also a part time hacker. She would indulge in it during the weekends. She wasn't into anything too dangerous or illegal, just some minor stuff. Her hacker name was Root. She liked that name more than Samantha and had often thought if she should have it legally changed.

But all those things kept aside, Root knew that there was something else seriously wrong with her. She was attracted to violence. The sight of blood was almost like an aphrodisiac. She had known it since she was a kid. She also knew that was capable of inflicting immense physical harm on others and that it made feel nice. More than nice, it made feel great. So far she had managed to hide that part of herself from everyone, even her parents. But it was this seed of darkness and chaos that was forever inside her, waiting for the right moment to blossom.

When she was fifteen there had a few cases of unexplained deaths in her neighborhood and school. A couple of bullies at school, an old man in the neighborhood and a teacher had all died in mysterious circumstances. There had been a thorough investigation but the detectives couldn't quite prove the deaths to be murders and had been eventually written off as accidents. Sam had enjoyed those kills but she knew that if she continued she would be behind bars before she even reached her eighteenth birthday or worse end up dead. So she had decided to bury that part of her deep inside herself. She had started to attend AA meetings and had hoped she could just treat it like a bad addiction but the feelings had refused to die away.

For twenty years those feelings had lain dormant inside her. She had refused to water that seed of chaos. But little did she know that all that was about to change that night and for the oldest and strangest of reasons.

Love.

Her day hadn't started like she would have wanted it to.

Samantha reached her office twenty minutes later than usual. The bus that she took to work was overcrowded and she couldn't get on it. So she had to wait for another one to show up while she planned on setting the previous bus on fire and watching everyone on it burn down to a cinder. The bus that she did manage to get on had a couple of young punks who just wouldn't shut up. They had also decided that she was very attractive and had managed to tell her that in a lot of very unsubtle ways. Sam smiled back at them sweetly as she worked the many ways in which she could kill them. As her stop neared and she stood up to get down, the punks decided to surround her, but Sam knew how to take care of herself. She had mastered the art of fighting while looking clumsy so no one ever thought that she had done it on purpose. She waited till the bus was close to the stop. She knew that the driver always opened the door slightly before the bus came to a complete stop and that there was an electric pole on the pavement next to the bus stop.

As the bus lurched towards the stop, Root turned towards one of the guys and used the bus's momentum and sway to ram her purse into his groin. The man doubled over and fell to the bus floor holding his genitals while his friends moved towards him to help. Sam moved back slightly and started to apologize for her clumsiness. At the same time the bus driver started to open the door out of habit. Root saw the door opening and she moved closer towards the fallen man and his friends. She saw the bus approach the pole and she made her move. She bent down to pretending to see if he was alright and she gently nudged his friend who was closest to the door. The man lost his footing and fell backwards. Root reached out to grab him but kept her hand pulled back just enough to be out of his reach. He fell through the open door and banged his head in the approaching pole and then bounced off it and hit the pavement with a sickening crunch.

The bus finally came to a stop and Root made sure she was the first one to rush to the fallen man's aid. Root knelt beside him as his friends came down as well as did the rest of the passenger. The man had definitely suffered some sort of major head trauma. As the crowd gathered around the man, Root quietly stepped away.

Root smiled and calmly walked towards her office. She turned around and saw the crowd starting still trying to help the guy. One of his friends was still holding on to his groin and was slightly bent over. Root chuckled and looked down at her watch and found out that she was almost fifteen minutes late. Her boss wasn't going to be happy about that. She cursed out loud and picked up the pace.

She found her new boss waiting by the entrance. He was a hard ass when it came to punctuality.

"Ms. Grooves, you are twenty minutes late."

Root looked at her watch and replied, "Fifteen."

"Not according to my watch. I will be deducting half a day's salary. You have been warned Ms. Grooves, If you are late again I might have to let you go" saying that her boss turned around and left, leaving Sam standing near entrance looking furious and wishing that everyone was forgiven at least one murder. In her case, maybe more than one.

But the day didn't improve. The office servers broke down because of the stupidity of one of the newbies and so she had to spend the rest of the day trying to bring them back online while everyone else kept asking her how long it would take. She felt like was on a road trip with a bunch of five year olds who all wanted to know if they were there yet. Every now and then her boss would drop by and threaten to fire her if the servers weren't up in a few minutes.

The day at last came to an end and all Root wanted to do was to go home and play some video games. The server repair had taken longer than she had expected and it was nearly half past ten when she exited her office building.

As she was waiting for her bus, her boss passed by her.

"Ms. Grooves, remember what I told you. Either you decide to be on time or not show up at all."

He smiled at her and walked away, Root stared at him with murderous intentions. It was then that it happened. It was late at night and the road was mostly devoid of traffic or people. Her boss decided to cross the road, when all of a sudden a car came careening around the corner. Her boss couldn't hear it because he had chose that exact moment to answer his phone.

It was as if everything slowed down. Samantha Grooves knew that she had enough time to warn her boss but chose not to do it. She watched as the car turned at approached her boss. The sound finally reached her boss's ear but it was too late to react. She saw his face slowly contort in surprise and then in horror as he saw the car racing towards him. The front of the bumper came in contact with his knees which, with impact, bent in the wrong direction. He was thrown in the air and then bounced of the hood of the car. She saw his face hit the hood of the car and saw a couple of teeth fly loose. The car showed absolutely no intentions of slowing down and her boss rolled over the top of the car and bounced off the trunk and landed with a bone crunching thud on the road. The car driver did not slow down and kept on driving.

As the car raced past Root, time once again seemed to flow at a regular pace. She looked around and found that she was the only living person that street. She slowly walked up to where her boss had landed and saw the body of her boss lying there twisted into impossible positions. Blood had started to leak out of his various orifices and had begun to pool around the body. She stood there and looked at the body in amazement. The blood pooling around was like water for that dormant seed inside her and the seed blossomed into a tiny flower.

But then something happened that she had never even dreamed off.

The shadows on the street started to converge. They raced from every dark corner and met in the centre of the street where they merged together to take form. They rose up and twisted and turned. The space around them distorted. They rose to a seemingly impossible height and then again shrank back. They formed a wall of darkness and then something stepped through. At first it was a leg and then an arm and then the shadows formed a clothing of sorts and a tall figure stood in the middle of the street next to the dead body of Root's boss. For a brief moment Root thought that she saw a giant scythe in the figure's hand. It turned to look at Root, but then it looked down again and it transformed once more. This time it shrank. The shadows became a hoodie and jeans and figure became a woman. The most beautiful woman Root had ever seen in her life.

It was then that Root realized that there was someone standing next to her. It was her dead boss, looking rather perplexed. He stood there staring at his body as his mind tried to come to terms with what had just happened.

"Wha… What's going on? Why am I lying on the road like that?"

Root jumped a little as she heard the ghost standing next to her speak. She was quite sure that she had finally lost her mind.

"You're dead, Mr. Mendez" said the woman in the hoodie. The voice sounded melodic, but it also sounded like it was coming over an immeasurable distance.

"But how?" Mr. Mendez was still struggling to understand what was going on.

"Well, didn't anyone ever tell you that you shouldn't talk on the phone while crossing the road?" The woman in the hoodie smirked and Root decided that she liked her. The woman stepped forward and held out her had for Mr. Mendez.

"It's time to go, Mr. Mendez. Heaven is waiting and I don't have all day."

"I can't be dead. I just got my promotion." The man begged.

"You should have thought about that before you took that call." Death tried to sound a little kinder, but was still regarding the dead man as an idiot.

Root stood there in her place as this entire scenario played out in front of her. Her boss finally took the woman's hand and they started to walk away. As she saw the woman walk away she broke out of her trance. She knew she had to say something. She couldn't just let her leave.

"Hi, I'm Root." Root blurted out.

Death stopped and turned around.

"What's your name?"

The woman kept staring at her. Death was surprised that this tall woman could not only see her but was actually trying to talk to her. It was amused, a feeling that it didn't feel very often.

"Can I see you again?" Root asked desperately, hoping to get some sort of a reply.

The woman in the hoodie tilted her head slightly and smiled. Root caught her breath. It was the most dazzling smile she had ever seen.

"Curious. Very curious." Death finally spoke and then she turned around and disappeared into the shadows with Root's boss.

The street was once again empty and all that was left were Root and the dead man on the road. Root looked at the spot where the woman had disappeared and she could still see the faint glimmer of that smile. Root was in love. She had to see that woman again.

She just didn't know how.


	2. Chapter 2

Root didn't get back home till almost one in the morning.

After Death had disappeared, Root looked at her watch and was surprised that almost no time had passed. It was as if Death had made time come to a standstill. She knew she would have to call the cops. The intersection was monitored by CCTV cameras and if she would have just left, then sooner or later cops would have come knocking on her door. So, that's what she did, she called the cops.

It took the cops and the emergency services almost fifteen minutes to arrive. Then she had to answer their stupid repetitive questions. After a few questions she realized that they were all looking at her strangely.

"Could you tell us one more time what happened?" asked the cop for the third time.

Root sighed and replied as calmly as possible, "As I told you the last time, I was waiting for my bus to arrive and Mr. Mendez was crossing the road. The car came out of nowhere and hit him. I didn't even have time to react. It all happened so suddenly."

As she answered the question Root understood why they were looking at her like that. It was because she wasn't reacting in the stereotypical way a woman should react, which was emotionally. Root decided that now was good time to start crying and so almost on cue she began to shake and started sobbing.

"I'm sorry. It's all so horrible. I must have been in shock. He was such a nice man. I can't believe he's… dead." She started to mumble and tears started rolling down her cheeks. She had always been good at crying on cue. She would have made a great actress.

And the moment she started crying, everyone around her suddenly turned sympathetic. She smiled internally. People were so predictable. The paramedics gave her a blanket and something warm to drink and made her sit down for a while. The cops thanked her for her co-operation and told her that she had shown great presence of mind that she had called the cops and not panicked.

A little while later, things started to wind up. The people from the coroner's office put the body into the ambulance and the cops offered to give Samantha Grooves a ride back to her house which she gladly accepted. She knew that it would have been difficult to catch a bus back home that late at night. Along the way the cops tried to carry out some idle chit-chat, but Root remained mostly silent. All she could think of was that dazzling smile and how she could see it again or if she even saw it in the first place. She had always known that she wasn't all there upstairs and maybe she was finally losing her grip on reality. Maybe there had been no accident. Maybe she had pushed her boss in front of the speeding car. At that moment she had no real way of knowing so she waited on passing a judgment on herself.

Finally, the cops dropped her off at her place and told her quite politely that she shouldn't leave town, which she had no intentions of doing anyways.

It had been a while but that night Root dreamt of death. It had never looked this beautiful.

* * *

><p>The next day she woke up feeling better than she had felt in years. She felt like she had a purpose. But in order to pursue that purpose she first had to be sure that it wasn't all in her head.<p>

She called up her office and took the next couple of days off. The news of Mr. Mendez's demise had, by then, spread through her office like wildfire and everyone was really understanding towards her. Her HR manager told her take the entire week off if she needed, and that it wouldn't be deducted from her salary. Root thanked her and put the phone down.

She spent the rest of the morning trying to figure out how she could see Death again. She took a walk in the park close to her house. It always helped her think more clearly. She ran through the various options in her mind. She figured she could buy a police scanner and listen to the police and ambulance frequencies, so she could track down accident sites. But that wasn't going to work. She had to be there at the exact time of death. By the time she would get there the soul would have already been collected.

As she was thinking about her options, a solution presented itself. She heard an ambulance siren. She looked around and saw that an ambulance had just arrived near her apartment building and she knew exactly what she had to do. She just had to hang around the emergency room of any hospital. There was bound to be a fair amount of death in a hospital on a daily basis.

* * *

><p>So the next day Root travelled through the city and found the busiest hospital she could find. She parked her car and made her way to the emergency room. The room was filled with a lot people in various stages of disease or injury but no one seemed to be anywhere close to dying. Root decided to wait. The waiting area was overcrowded and no one was paying any attention to her. Root had to wait almost five hours before she got what she came for.<p>

Root had almost fallen asleep when she heard commotion. She looked on as paramedics and nurses brought in a man seriously injured in an accident and behind him was a woman who looked to be in even worse condition. Neither one looked that they would survive. They were both covered in blood. It seemed like the man had suffered a major head injury and the woman had metal rod sticking through her stomach. There was blood everywhere. The paramedics were trying their best to stem the flow but it didn't look like they were being successful.

Root was wide awake and excited. She was keeping her fingers crossed and hoped that at least one of them would die. It was a morbid thought but she had to test out her theory. Besides, she told herself, she wasn't the one responsible for their situation, not that it mattered to her.

Root didn't have to wait for too long. The woman was the first to go. The doctors had barely managed to get her to the operating room when her vitals started to drop. The doctors tried everything but it seemed like she had lost too much blood.

A moment later Root saw the woman standing next to her dead body as it bled out. The doctors and nurses were trying their best to revive her. They brought in the crash cart and every time the shock ran through her body her soul flickered, as if the jolt of electricity coursing through her body was trying to keep the soul connected to the physical plane. But it was to no avail. After a few tries the doctors gave up and declared the woman dead.

The woman looked around confused wondering where she was and then the shadows repeated their previous dance. The coalesced in the middle of the room and Death made its way towards the woman. As it approached the woman, Root stood up and made her way towards both of them.

She saw Death talking to the woman trying to reassure her that everything was going to be fine. At that moment something else happened. The man from the accident died as well. Death flickered and Root saw that there was another version of Death standing next to the man talking to him. Root was surprised for a second but she recovered quickly. It made sense to her that Death would be able to do that, after all it would have to be in many places at the same time.

Root chose to ignore the man and decided to concentrate on the woman. As she turned around to look at them she saw that Death was back in her female form. Root took a deep breath as she once again held that beautiful figure in sight.

Death was almost done talking to her and the dead woman gave it her hand. As they both turned around Death was surprised to find Root standing in front of it. The woman in the hoodie stopped and stared at her. Root smiled at her. A vague smile seemed to play on Deaths lips. Death walked past her with the woman. As it went a little further it started to dissipate along with the soul in its care. But before it vanished completely it looked back one last time, as if to confirm that it hadn't been mistaken in what it had just seen. Root grinned at it in return. Death shook her head in disbelief and finally disappeared.

Root almost leapt with joy having confirmed that she was still sane and that everything that she had seen was real. But, she controlled herself once she remembered that she was still standing in the middle of an emergency room where two people had just died.

Root got out of the hospital and made her way back to her car. Once in the car she almost screamed with joy and grabbed the steering wheel and shook the entire car in her excitement. The passers-by looked at her curiously wondering if she was happy or something bad had happened. Root noticed people looking at her strangely and quickly started the car and drove off.

* * *

><p>Once she was on her way back she finally calmed down. Now that she knew that she wasn't hallucinating she needed to figure out how to attract Deaths attention. She knew exactly what she had to do. The only problem was that she was out of touch and more than a little bit rusty.<p>

Firstly, she would have to get back into shape if she was going to go down that dark path again and that was going to take time. But Root was patient and she knew that Death wasn't going to anywhere either. And so started preparing for the onslaught of chaos that she was about to unleash on the city. But it was all in the name of love and she couldn't find a fault in that.

A week later, Root quit her job and decided to go full time into freelancing so she would have the time concentrate on the more important things in her life. She knew that Death would come the moment anyone died. The cause of death didn't matter. Root had no plans of sitting in hospitals waiting for people to die. If she was going to get to know Death she was going to have to be more proactive, which meant killing people.

Now, killing people wasn't the problem per say, it was who could she kill that wouldn't attract a lot of attention. So she started to prepare a list and in the meantime she got back into working out. If she was going to do this she had to be in good shape because one day she might have to drag a body and she didn't want to be unprepared when that eventuality came.

Root picked up a police scanner and she started to buy books on forensics. She already had a few but now she needed to be thorough.

Root worked in the daytime and roamed around the city at night. Now that she had finally embraced her inner chaos she needed to do something about it. It was like an itch she couldn't scratch. If she didn't find a suitable target soon, she realized that she might just kill her next door neighbor and she knew that wasn't a good idea from any standpoint.

So, she started to make a list of people that she could kill. But it wasn't really working out. She needed a target that wouldn't attract a lot of attention. Someone no one would miss. She quickly ruled out colleagues, relatives or acquaintances. She couldn't go after anyone she knew as that would lead the cops back to her. As she drove around the city looking for potential targets, she quickly ruled out homeless people as well. There just seemed no point in killing anyone who had already fallen that low. She kept searching for potential candidates.

But then she got her break.

* * *

><p>One night she found herself travelling through the seedier parts of the city and for a moment she thought she had hit the mother lode. Junkies and hookers stood at every corner. Root thought that she had finally found what she was looking for, people that no one would miss. But upon closer inspection she realized that these people didn't deserve to be killed anymore than the homeless did. It wasn't their fault that they had been dealt some bad cards in their lives. So she drove on, but then she finally understood what she was looking for. She wasn't looking for people no one would miss, but she was looking for those who even if they went missing no one would care about and then she found them. They, too, were on the streets but they hid in the shadows. They were the dealers and the pimps and the others who controlled those who hawked their wares and kept the rest of the desperate ones in their place. They were the ones that everyone hated including the cops. If one of those died no one would really bother with the how and whys of their death.<p>

Now that she had found her potential involuntary applicants for the job of victim, all she had to do was to find a worthy candidate. Root spent a few more days travelling though the area until, at last, she found her worthy candidate.

His name was Eddie Robertson, but for some reason everyone called him Rods. She never found out the history behind that nickname and it didn't matter in the grand scheme of things.

Eddie was a small time dealer and a wannabe pimp. He was unnecessarily harsh the few girls that her controlled and he wasn't even honest about the drugs that he sold. He adulterated them more than the others and even fudged the quantities. But, he had grand ambitions. He thought himself to a smarter than everyone else and that maybe one day he would control the city like Elias did. Everyone is allowed to have ambitions, whether they achieve them is a different story altogether and in Eddie's case he just didn't have enough time left to achieve any of his goals.

* * *

><p>Root knew she needed to be meticulous. She looked for CCTV cameras in the area and found that most of them were either broken or purposely destroyed. She watched Eddie and memorized his route and habits. She also scoped out the entire area to make sure that she had an exit strategy, in case things went sideways. Finally after a weeklong preparation she was ready. Root was excited that she was once again going to meet Death.<p>

The day of the deed finally came. Root had chosen a weekday knowing that the place won't be crowded. She stole her neighbor's car. He was out of the country and she knew he wouldn't miss it being gone for a few hours. She loaded it with supplies and was on her way.

* * *

><p>It was around ten thirty at night and Root had reached her location. She had spotted an alley way behind the main street which no one frequented and that's where she parked her car. Root had picked up some old clothes and was dressed like a homeless woman and she waited for Eddie in the back alley. He usually frequented it to take a piss as did a lot of the others which accounted for the smell. Root had prepared herself for it. The things one had to do for love.<p>

Eddie, on the other hand, was having a great night. The girls were doing well, even though a couple of them had to whacked around a little bit. After all they needed to be told who was boss. He had also managed to rip off a couple of junkies and sold them some watered down shit. It was a good night indeed. His boss was going to be happy with tonight's collection. But Eddie, as usual, had had too many beers and needed to relieve himself.

He entered the alley and stood in his usual place. As he was going about his business he saw an old homeless woman standing a little ways away.

"What you looking at, bitch. Haven't you seen a dick before? Or maybe you want a piece of the action." Eddie laughed at his own quick-witted remarks.

"What do you say, how about a blowjob, I'll give ten bucks for it."

He was still going about his business and was talking to the wall. He had failed to notice that the woman was now just inches behind him. He pulled up his zipper and turned around. He jumped back upon seeing that homeless woman so close and stepped in a puddle of his own piss.

"What the.." that was all that he could utter before the homeless woman stuck him in the neck with a taser.

Eddie convulsed and fell to the filthy floor of the alley.

"Nice offer, maybe next time." Root pulled back the hoodie that had been covering her face and smiled at the unconscious dealer.

* * *

><p>It took Root a little bit of time to drag Eddie's limp form to the car. She dumped him into the trunk, bound his hands and legs and put a gag in his mouth. She then drove off to this abandoned warehouse she had located. Over the course of the past ten days Root had marked a whole bunch of remote secluded locations that she could use for her project.<p>

The abandoned warehouse was in a wooded area which made it a good place to go unnoticed. The whole place was falling apart. The roof of the warehouse was almost gone and a lot of the scaffolding had fallen to the ground. The ground was mostly broken concrete, vegetation and the odd and fallen metal beam jutting out of the ground. It made the whole structure was very unsafe and Root had carefully marked out a spot that she knew was structurally sound.

The surrounding area was pitch black and Root had to keep the head lights on to see anything. Root picked up the taser and got out of the car. Root made her way to the trunk to get Eddie out. She had given him a small dose of a tranquilizer to keep him in check. She had also set up a metal chair inside the warehouse where she would take care of him.

But things don't always go according to plan.

The sedative that Root had given hadn't been enough and Eddie had woken up somewhere during the journey. He had managed to get his feet free even though his arms and mouth were still tied up. He promised himself that whoever had done this to him, he would make them suffer. He waited for his opportunity to escape. He felt the car stop and heard someone get out. He prepared himself.

Root opened the trunk. Eddie kept pretending that he was unconscious. He felt two hands drag him up and he knew that this was his chance. He used his legs to push himself back. The force of the push threw him out of the car and he fell on top of his captor. He knew he didn't have enough time. He desperately scrambled on to his feet. He turned for a second and saw that his captor was still trying to recover. He looked around for a second and he could make out the abandoned warehouse in the glare of the headlights and decided that that would be a good place to hide. He made a run for it and that was his mistake, running.

Eddie had only managed to get a few feet before he banged his right shin into a long metal beam protruding from the ground. The edge of the beam tore through his pants and sliced open the front of his leg. He screamed out and tried to take care of it but his hands were still tied behind his back but found it to be quite difficult. He straightened up and tried running again but pain shot through his right leg. He started to limp but kept trying to run at the same time, dragging his right leg behind him. He turned around to see where his captor was and that was his final mistake. His left foot caught in some broken concrete and he tripped and fell.

Root was still a little dazed from the fall but had recovered enough to see her target trying to run into the warehouse. She saw the cut his leg and then saw him trip, but what happened next surprised them both.

Eddie tried to maintain his balance which was impossible given how tied up he was and he felt his body starting to keel over. As he was falling he saw the ground and his entire short and miserable life flashed in front of his eye. In the glare of the headlights he could see a sharp rusted metal shard protruding from the floor and it was directly aligned with his neck and there was nothing he could do about it.

Root saw him fall and then heard what sounded like a knife going through a watermelon. She got up, took out her taser and rushed towards him, but realized that she wouldn't need the taser after all.

The shard had gone right through Eddie's neck. In fact it was so big that there were only millimeters of skin that was attaching his head to the rest of his body. Eddie lay there twitching and convulsing. Blood was coming out of his mouth in spurts as he tried to form some words, maybe his last words. But that wasn't meant to be. All Root could hear was some sort of strangled gurgling.

"Oh fuck. Now look what you've done. You couldn't just go along with the plan, could you?" Root asked Eddie irritatedly.

No one knew if she expected a reply. Eddie definitely wasn't in any position to reply. He was too busy choking on his own blood. Root was frustrated. All those days of meticulous planning and it had all been laid to waste because the moron had decided to run. This was not how she wanted to present herself.

Root found herself thinking, _"What would she think of me? How incompetent am I, that I couldn't even execute a simple murder." _

But there was not time for negative thoughts.

"This is all you fault. I was going to kill you painlessly. You wouldn't have felt a thing. But no, you just had to run and now look at you. Are you happy, huh are you?" Root found herself yelling at poor Eddie who was now sputtering like a water logged engine, just instead of water he kept spitting out blood.

Root knew it was an exercise in futility and she resigned herself to the situation. Death would show up one way or the other and she would get to meet her. That's all that mattered. So, she went and leaned on the bonnet of her car and waited for Eddie to die. Eddie on the other hand was taking his own sweet time to doing it but he was also putting on quite a show as he died. The show mostly comprised of gurgles, squeaks and the occasional dance of the twitchy feet. If nothing else Eddie managed to entertain Root for the remaining ten minutes of his life and then there was finally silence.

Root stood up, alert and on the lookout for her favorite visitor. She noticed that Eddie was now standing next to his body, looking just as lost as the rest of the souls Root had seen and then she appeared.

Death made her way towards Eddie and was about to talk to him when she noticed someone else standing there. She turned around and was surprised to see that it was Root.

"You?" Death sounded surprised.

"Hi. You remember me?" Root asked in return.

"You were there on the road and then at the hospital. Are you stalking me?" Death asked jokingly.

Root was about to answer when Death looked at the dead body.

"Wait a second, did you do this?" asked Death as she pointed towards the body.

Root looked a little reluctant to answer the question.

"Well not exactly… it was more of an accident."

"Really, then why are his hands tied behind his back?"

Root paused for a second.

"I just wanted to see you again and I couldn't think of any other way." Root finally admitted.

Death was a little taken aback by the confession. No one ever went out of their way to look her up. This was new to her.

"Why would you want to meet me?" She asked slowly.

Now Root was really struggling with an answer but she figured the truth would be enough.

"I… I kinda liked you the first time I saw you. So I just wanted to, you know, get to know you some more. And it's not like I can just take your number and call you up."

This time it was Death who didn't know how to react. She had never been in a situation like this before. So she decided to handle it like a trained professional.

"Look, I appreciate the effort. But as you can see I'm sort of busy." Death pointed towards Eddie's soul which had started to wander around.

"So you can ask me one question and then I have to go. Alright?" Death knew that she was being a little abrupt but she needed to get out of there without being too rude.

Root knew that she wouldn't have too much time with Death but this was quite sudden and all she had was one question. But she knew exactly what she wanted to ask.

"What's your name?"

Of all the questions, that was one that Death least expected.

Root looked at Death, who looked lost in her memories as if she was trying to dig out some long buried treasure.

"Sameen. I was once called Sameen" Death replied softly.

"Sameen" Root spoke the name out loud, enjoying the sound of it, "That's a nice name."

"Thanks." Death looked like she almost blushed, but it was too dark to tell. They stood there staring at each other awkwardly when a voice from behind Death ruined their moment.

"Hey, you got a nice ass, short stuff." It was Eddie. Apparently even in death he hadn't lost his charm.

And the moment was gone. Root was furious but Death just looked at her and whispered, "Don't worry, he's going to have a demon checking out his ass for the rest of eternity."

Root chuckled.

"Bye" said Death. She knew that she had lingered there long enough and she needed to go.

"Can I see you again?" Root asked tentatively.

Death paused for a second and replied, "Why not."

Root was overjoyed.

Death turned around. "Well come on then hot shot, how about I show a good time."

Eddie jumped at the opportunity and quickly moved next to Death, who in that second transformed into this monstrous shadowy figure and before Eddie could react, it enveloped him and disappeared.

Even after they were gone, Root thought she could hear a distant scream. But it didn't manage to dampen her spirits. She was happy, happier than she had ever been.

"Sameen" she repeated the name a quite a few time, loving the sound of it.

"Isn't she great? I think she's great." Root said to Eddie, who was in no condition to agree or disagree with the statement.

A few minutes later Root realized that it was getting late so she packed up her stuff, got back in the car and drove off. Eddie's body was left there all alone with the crickets while his soul was just getting through the induction ceremony in hell.

Root reached home close to one in the morning. She was tired but she had already started to plan her next project and also what she would ask Death when she met her next time. But she was truly tired because she was asleep the second her head touched her pillow.

Root once again dreamt of Death that night, who was named Sameen, and it made her smile.


	3. Chapter 3

Root pushed the thin blade through the dealer's neck, severing the medulla oblongata, killing him instantly and painlessly. No sooner had she put the knife down that she heard a slightly irritated voice from behind.

"Is this going to be a regular thing with you?"

It was Death and she was pointing towards the dead dealer in the chair.

"Well… Hi" Root waved to her cheerfully.

"That doesn't answer my question."

"Well, this is just a means to an end."

"And the end being?"

"Meeting you." Root said matter-of-factly.

Death's irritation dissipated. This was a completely new situation for her. Lots of people had tried to trap her before this, using various spells and magical bonds and they all had wanted something in return of letting her go. But this was new. She was standing in front of someone who just wanted to meet her for no other reason than talking to her and no matter how much she tried she found that she couldn't stay angry at someone like that for too long.

As Death was lost in thought, Root turned around to put the knife back in its place. She wiped off the blood and put it back in its case. She heard a small cough behind her. She turned around to face Death who was looking a little embarrassed.

"Could I have one of those?" Death asked.

Root looked to where Death was pointing and it was the box of doughnuts that she had picked up on her way there. She immediately picked it up and rushed towards Sameen.

"Sure, which one would you like?" Root opened the lid and inside was a variety of doughnuts.

Death picked one of the more simple looking ones. She gave a satisfied sigh as she bit into it.

Root was enjoying watching Death eat. It was a very surreal experience, not considering the fact that she was standing in front of Death, watching Death eat a doughnut.

"I am sorry for not offering you anything before but I didn't know that you ate anything."

"I don't really need food for sustenance. But I do miss the taste of it. So I don't mind indulging myself every now and again." Death smiled as she enjoyed her dessert.

"You know the nice thing about being Death. I can eat as much as I want and I'll never put on weight."

Root chuckled.

"How long have you been around?" Root asked out of curiosity.

"Quite long. I was around when Caesar was stabbed. I was around when the Egyptians were still planning on building the pyramids, so yeah, a pretty long time." Sameen grew quite as her mind went through all the things she had seen over the eons.

"Don't you get lonely, doing all of this on your own?"

Death was surprised by the question. No one had ever asked her that before.

"Not really. This job keeps me very busy, so I don't usually get the time to think about something like that." Death knew that what she had just said was a bold faced lie, but she had never been very good at discussing her feelings.

Root realized that she might have accidently touched on a slightly sensitive topic. So they both sat in silence and ate the doughnuts and watch the dead drug dealer's soul wander around the warehouse.

Death finished the last of the doughnuts and finally turned her attention towards the wandering soul.

"I should go now. Hell doesn't like to be kept waiting."

Root was a little sad that their meeting had come to an end. But she knew that Death had an important job and that this couldn't last forever no matter how much she wanted it to.

"Bye." Root said as she got off the bonnet.

Death had collected the soul and turned towards Root.

"I guess, since you're not going to stop, I'll see you next time." Death smirked.

Root grinned like a maniac in return.

Death chuckled and disappeared.

* * *

><p>They always say the first kill is the hardest but for Root her first kill had been when she was fifteen. So, even though Eddie wasn't her first, he was her first in a very long time. Also Eddie couldn't even be defined as a kill, he was more of a minor disaster. But every mistake teaches you something. From the disaster named Eddie, Root learnt that she should use a stronger dose of sedatives. After her second kill, nearly two weeks later, where she stood at that moment, Root learnt that she should dug a ditch before she killed the dealer.<p>

Root spent another hour digging a ditch to bury the body. By the time she got home it was close to three in the morning and she was bone tired.

* * *

><p>After a few more meetings with Death, Root finally settled down to her new routine. She would work in the daytime and scout for her targets in the night. She usually arranged for a meeting with Death once every two weeks because it was quite a bit of work setting thing up. Acquiring the key ingredient for the get together was always tricky.<p>

Root had also started to map out the city's surveillance system to find blind spots that she could use. She called them Dead Zones. It seemed like an appropriate name. She also had to dig the ditches before hand and make sure the meeting site was secure. She didn't want be disturbed during whatever little time she had with Sameen.

She had also managed to get her hand on some chemicals that could accelerate the decomposition process. The whole process was time consuming and tiring but she enjoyed it, because at the end of it she got to spend time with the one she loved and that's all that mattered.

The people who met her in those days, her neighbors and ex-colleagues, all said that she was a changed person. She looked happier than before. They would ask her if she was seeing someone and all Root ever replied was that she was in a long distance relationship, that it was the best thing that ever happened to her.

Root had also made the correct choice in the targets that she had picked. Even though people noticed that they had gone missing, they just didn't care enough to go looking for them or even report it to the police. The only one of Root's victims that was ever found was Eddie and that was because Root had left him out in the open and Root had a perfectly good reason for that too. She needed to know how secluded her hiding places were and how long would it take before anybody would locate Eddie and the answer to that was three weeks.

* * *

><p>It was around the time when Root was scouting a suitable candidate for her third meeting that Eddie's body was finally discovered by a couple of homeless men and their dog.<p>

The two men had hiked a little way through the woods looking for a secluded location that they could call their own, where they could live without being bothered by civilization. They had considered themselves quite lucky when they stumbled onto the old warehouse, but not so lucky when they found Eddie. It was the dog that found him first and his barking attracted the two men to the body, the shorter one of whom promptly fainted after seeing the state of the remains, because to be honest what remained of Eddie wasn't a pretty sight.

Eddie, in those three weeks, had mostly functioned as an all you can eat buffet for all manner of carrion birds, animals and insects and they had put that time to good use.

The tall man poured some water on his shorter companion to bring him back to the world of the conscious, after which they had a short argument as to what needed to be done.

The shorter one, named Leon, was all for leaving and never talking about it again. In his previous life he had been an investment banker and had had quite a few run-ins with the cops due to some fraudulent practices. After his incarceration and release he had been living on the streets and was in no hurry to talk to the cops anytime soon.

His friend understood his dilemma and asked him to leave. He figured he could handle this on his own, so he hiked back to civilization and managed to convince a couple of cops to accompany him to Eddie's location. A few hours later the entire site was crawling with cops and the detectives had just arrived.

* * *

><p>The car came to a halt about twenty meters away from the crime scene. There were members from the forensics dept. already studying the area and a young patrol cop was left to watch over the decaying body. A slightly rotund detective got out of the car and walked up to the cop.<p>

"Hey, Laskey." The detective greeted the young cop.

"Detective Fusco, I was hoping they would send you. Is it true, what I heard about Det. Carter?" Laskey asked.

Fusco looked a little lost for a second until realization dawned on his as to what Laskey was talking about.

"Yeah, Carter's moving up in the world. She's going to be a fed now. In fact, she left for her training two weeks ago."

"So, you're on your own right now?" Laskey inquired.

"No, I got assigned a new partner three days ago."

Laskey looked behind Det. Fusco and saw his partner walking towards them.

"You got partnered with the terminator. Damn. Is it true what they said about her, that she took out an entire drug cartel hit squad on her own?" Laskey whispered.

"I guess but most of her previous work is sealed. She did a lot of undercover stuff and she isn't the sharing type. Just don't call her Terminator to her face, unless you want to get shot." Fusco whispered back.

His new partner walked up to them.

"Detective Martine, this is Officer Laskey." Fusco made the introductions.

All rational thoughts had left Laskey's mind as he stood there gawking at Det. Martine. He hadn't expected her to be this beautiful. Martine was used to this kind of attention from men and even sometimes from women, she didn't mind it. But she was more interested in the decaying corpse than the gawking young cop.

"So what do have here, officer?" Martine asked pointing towards the cop.

Laskey snapped out of his trance and came back to the real world.

"Aaa… well," He took a little bit of time to collect his thoughts, "Male, late twenties or early thirties. By the level of decomposition the Forensics guys were saying he's been dead for about three weeks now."

Martine nodded as she began to take down notes.

"Do we have an ID yet?" Fusco asked.

"We found a wallet in the bushes. No money but we do have a driver's license. Edward Robertson. I can't clearly make out the date of birth it's a little worn out."

"Edward Robertson, the name's familiar. Wait, Eddie Rods. This could be Eddie Rods. Show me license."

Laskey handed the license over to Det. Fusco.

"Yup, that's him. I can't forget a weasely little face like that. But what's he doing all the way out here?"

"You know him?" Martine turned her attention towards him.

"Yeah, he's a small time dealer and junkie from downtown. He used to sell around this shop called "Ingram and Sons". The area is controlled by the Russians, so in a way he was working for them."

At that moment they heard someone walk up behind them and they both turned around. Behind them was a shorter man wearing glasses and had a slight limp. Fusco smiled upon looking at him.

"Harold, long time."

"Yes, Det. Fusco, it has been a while." The man with the glasses replied in a very cultured and educated voice.

Det. Fusco turned towards his partner to make the formal introductions.

"Detective, this is Harold Finch. He has a small library uptown but more importantly he is an encyclopedia when it comes to crime in the city. He runs a blog called "The all-seeing Eye". It's quite good, actually it's very good. Harold also works as a consultant for the police, sometimes. He has helped us out on numerous occasions."

Harold smiled and extended his hand towards Det. Martine.

"At your service."

"I have read you blog. It is very well researched" said Martine as she shook his hand, "So, do you have any information to share with us on this fellow here?" Martine asked as she pointed towards Eddie.

"You said his name was Eddie Rods?" Harold asked.

"Yeah" Fusco replied.

"There really isn't much to share. He was an extremely small fish. No real ambitions or talent. He had been working the same corner for almost a decade."

"Any enemies?" Martine inquired.

Harold smirked, "Try everybody. Any one he had had dealing with or he had sold to. The problem wasn't that Mr. Robertson was a criminal, it's that he was a liar and a cheat and that's something that even criminals don't like. So, yes, it could be almost anybody."

Martine was lost in thought hearing those remarks. She was trying to run through variety scenarios that would lead Eddie to this place and she could only think of one that made any sense and then Fusco vocalized it.

"So, what are we thinking here, kidnapping gone wrong? Someone picked him up for drugs or money and brought him out here but Eddie got loose. He runs, trips and accidently stabs himself in the neck."

"Sounds about right. Lets dig some more but I don't think this is high priority by any standards." Martine replied.

Fusco was about to nod in agreement when they heard some commotion. Everybody looked in the direction of the sound and they saw the homeless man was in a fight with one of the officers. He had somehow managed to snatch the cop's baton and was threatening to hit him with it. The cop had his gun out and the dog looked about ready to rip the cop to shreds. The whole situation was on the brink of getting out of hand.

Martine had her hand on her weapon but Fusco motioned her to wait. He stepped forward and decided to talk to the homeless man.

"Hey, everybody calm down." Fusco walked towards the man with both his hands raided slightly in the air, "Do you want to tell me what happened?"

The homeless man, still keeping the baton up, looked at Fusco and replied, "He kicked my dog."

Fusco put his hands down and looked at the gin wielding cop, "You did what? Is this true?" He sounded a little pissed off.

"The dog was getting in my way" the officer replied sheepishly.

"So you kicked it. Are you a fucking animal? Now put that gun away and get out of here." Fusco shouted at him.

The officer quietly holstered his weapon and walked away with his head down. The homeless man also lowered the baton. Fusco walked up to him.

"Look, I am sorry about that. He's an idiot. You did a good thing calling the cops so I don't want you to think badly of us. Not all of us are idiots like that one."

The homeless man nodded. Fusco took out a fifty dollar note and told him get a nice meal and some warm clothes for the approaching winter. The man thanked him.

Sometime later Fusco and Martine left after carrying out a preliminary investigation. Harold asked them if he could stick around and get a few pictures for his blog. Neither of the detectives had any issues with it.

Once the place had quieted down a bit Harold approached the homeless man who had decided that he might as well spend the night there. The warehouse had enough roofing to provide some warmth.

"Hello, I'm Harold Finch." said Harold.

The homeless man looked surprised that this well dressed man wanted to talk to him.

"Hi" he replied shyly.

"I was wondering if I could talk to you for a second."

The man just nodded a yes in reply.

"Back there, I saw you take that cops baton. You seem to have some skill in unarmed combat. May I ask where you learnt that?"

The man thought about answering, wondering why this bespectacled man was interested in him. But he seemed polite and decent so the man replied.

"I used to be the military. I did a couple of tours in Afghanistan and even one in Iraq. That's where I got my training. It's just that things haven't been very good since I got back." He said hesitatingly. Not sure what the man wanted.

"You see the reason I asked was that I might have the need for a man with your set of skills. I run this blog about crime and criminals and sometimes some of the people I write about come looking for me. At those times I could use somebody with your particular skill set. Besides I also run a library and I could definitely use a hand with that. Would you be interested in something like that?" Harold explained his situation.

The homeless man was stumped. After everything that had happened today, a job offer was the last thing he expected.

"Yeah, Yeah, I'm I.. sure." The man stammered as he was still trying to come to terms with this sudden reversal of fortunes, "I used to be pretty good. I can be good again with some practice."

"Good." Harold took out his visiting card and a couple of hundred dollar notes from his wallet, "Take this as an advance on your salary. Get cleaned up, get some good clothes and come to the library tomorrow morning at nine. We'll talk about your salary then. Alright?"

"Yeah sure. Thank you, I won't let you down."

"It's alright. I needed an assistant anyways." Harold smiled back at him.

As they walked back to Harold's car, the man asked, "Why are you helping me? You don't even know me."

"Because I think everybody deserves a second chance in life and you looked like you could use one right about now. After all, we all need a purpose."

"Thank you" those were the only words the homeless man could come up with, unable to truly express the depth of his gratitude.

"Come one, I'll give you a ride back to the city. You wouldn't want to be late for your first day of work?" Harold said jokingly.

So they all got in the car. The dog got in the back seat.

As they were about to drive away, Harold looked at the man and asked him, "I never asked you your name."

"It's John, John Reese, and that's Bear." He said pointing towards the dog who barked a reply.

"A pleasure to meet you Mr. Reese" and they drove off towards the city.

* * *

><p>The investigation into Eddie's death didn't go anywhere. None of the people the detectives interviewed had seen anything or anyone suspicious or at least the ones who were willing to talk to them. After a couple of weeks the case was put on the backburner and eventually written off as unsolved.<p>

The detectives took a long time to see the pattern among the missing persons because no one was in any hurry to report missing dealers and pimps. But word had starting to spread on the streets that something was amiss.

* * *

><p>By the time Root got to her fifth kill she had decided to move to a neighboring city. She figured that spreading out the kills over a large geographic area would create lesser suspicion. Root had also taken to experimenting with her methods of killing. Around her seventh kill she had started to get fascinated with poisons and chemicals. However, her current concoction was having a really unexpected side effect.<p>

Root had injected the pimp with a large dose of her home made recipe. The man, even though unconscious, had started to shake and tremble uncontrollably. Pretty soon the convulsions got so violent that the metal chair which had been bolted to the floor looked like it was about to be ripped off the ground. The man's eyes shot open and they were blood red. The veins in his eyes had formed a red spider web over his eyeballs. His eyes looked as if they might pop out of their sockets. Root instinctively stepped back, scared and fascinated at the same time. Soon after the man opened his mouth in a scream but no sound came out. His entire body was now straining against his restraints. Root took out her gun, which she had taken from one of her previous victims, just to be on the safe side. A few seconds later a sound came out of his mouth that sounded like a deflating balloon and he finally died. But that wasn't the end of it. A second after his entire body slumped into the chair, he started to bleed from every hole in his body. He was even bleeding from his eyes. Root looked on in horror and wonder at her own doing when she heard a familiar voice speak.

"What the fuck, Root. What did you do this time?" it was Death and it too was staring at the body in fascination.

"I don't know, I think I screwed up the proportions." Root replied, a little embarrassed by the mess.

"You think. It looks like his heart and almost every vein in his body exploded. I must admit though I haven't seen anything quite like it."

"Really," Root said with a level of pride that was unbecoming considering what had just transpired, "Well, just wait till you see what I've planned next."

Sameen shook her head in disbelief. She had rarely met anyone this crazy and yet she had to admit to herself grudgingly that she liked this tall psychopath. But then in her line of work who else could she have met.

Root offered Death a cheese burger and they both settled down to their usual conversations about murder and junk food.

* * *

><p>"Wait, so you aren't the only Death?" Root interrupted Death's explanation.<p>

"As I was trying to explain if you would let me," Sameen was a little irritated with the interruption and Root thought Death looked really cute when she was irritated. "I am Death for all of humanity and if one day humans spread out across the stars then I would still be their Death. Every sentient species across the universe has a Death assigned to them."

"So is there like a, you know, a Death Death, The big boss?" Root was fascinated by all this information.

"Yes there is. I have an immediate boss, the one who chose and trained me. His name is Hersh and then we have DEATH who oversees and controls everything and it is very appropriately called CONTROL."

"Wow, this is all very fascinating. I never knew it was this complicated."

"Well, it is and you don't make my job any easier." Sameen mocked her affectionately.

Root smiled shyly, "I'm sorry but I can't help it. I don't think I would survive too long if I didn't get to see you." Root voice trailed off as she tried to put in words how she felt about Sameen but couldn't find the right words.

Sameen just smiled back at her, as even she was at a loss of words.

* * *

><p>As the weeks turned to months, Root and Death fell into a routine. Their meeting started to feel more and more like dates. Root kept experimenting with her methods of killing. They ranged from instantaneous to extremely violent. In the meantime, Death started to teach Root some of her skills especially the ones to become invisible and navigate the shadows.<p>

"Look you just have to be careful though. The Shadow Realm is pure chaos, remain in it for too long and you will slowly start to lose your mind. What am I saying? You should feel completely at home there." Sameen affectionately made fun of her favorite psychopath.

Root peeked out of the shadows, "Hey, not fair. I am doing this all for you." And she disappeared again into the shadows.

Death looked around the warehouse when suddenly Root suddenly popped out of the shadows next to her and kissed her on the cheek.

"Hey. Not cool." Sameen whirled around but Root was already gone and all she heard was Root's laughter.

"Alright if that's how you want to play."

Death took on its true form and gently touched its scythe to the floor. Everything came to a standstill in the warehouse and there was a sudden inrush of what felt like air being sucked in towards the staff. But instead of air, all the shadows in the warehouse started to get drawn in towards the staff. As the shadows approached Death, they finally revealed Root and she fell into Death's arms.

Sameen grabbed hold of her and smiled at her.

"If you are going to kiss me then at least do it properly."

And so Death kissed the maiden.

Root spent the rest of the week with a silly little grin on her face.

* * *

><p>By the time Root was close to finishing her tenth kill, she had become quite adept at navigating the shadow realm. She also found out that things didn't weigh as much in that realm and that she could literally pick her victims up and dump them into the warehouse once she had rendered them unconscious.<p>

But the shadow realm was different, like Death had said. It wasn't just chaos, there were things there that Root had caught glimpses of, things which looked like they were all sharp claws and teeth and oddly constructed. They whispered in her ear, told her things. Things that would have driven a normal person mad, but Root felt right at home. She felt accepted and they seemed to like her too.

The longer Root stayed in the shadow realm, the more it changed her. She grew pale. Her eyes were somehow darker. They seemed like they would soak up all the light in the room. People couldn't hold her gaze for too long, as if what they saw in them seemed to unnerve them. It also felt like she was disconnected from this reality. Sometimes if she stood in the shadows, people wouldn't even notice that she was there. She had also started to avoid direct sunlight, she just preferred the dark. She felt like she had found a home she never knew she was looking for.

* * *

><p>But soon she found herself running short of funds. Her freelancing wasn't paying her enough to keep this exercise going. She needed to get some cash and fast and she knew exactly how to get it. She had to move further up the food chain. To the ones who controlled the money.<p>

She started to scour through "The all-seeing eye" and soon found a couple of potential targets. The first one was a Russian gun runner named Peter Yogorov. He liked to party and was a hard drinker. On Tuesdays, he would pick up his delivery of guns and cash and transported it in his Porsche. He usually had a couple of duffel bags in his trunk which contained the merchandise and the cash. He would be an easy target. The other one was an enforcer for a new local gang called The Brotherhood. The enforcer picked up a weekly payment delivery every Thursday. He was a big guy and he usually travelled with a couple of other guys, both heavily armed. He would be a lot tougher to take down but Root liked a challenge.

* * *

><p>Peter Yogorov was the first one she decided to hit. He was a man of set routines, comfortable in the fact that no one in their right mind would try to touch him. Root most definitely wasn't of the right mind. Every Tuesday after picking up his delivery he would go straight home. He would have a couple of guys outside his house, but inside he would be all alone.<p>

Root scoped out the place for a week to understand the patterns and to also check out the layout of the place within the shadow realm, so she would know exactly where to come out. The distances and locations within the shadow world didn't always correspond to the real world, so she had to be sure.

The night went pretty much as planned. Peter Yogorov had had too much to drink and had readily passed out fully clothed on his bed. Root lifted him off his bed and disappeared back into the shadows. After she had dropped him off in the warehouse, she came back to pick up the duffel bags.

Peter Yogorov died without ever regaining consciousness. That was a very good death for him, considering all the things that he had done in his life. Apparently Peter had had so much to drink that even soul was drunk and hadn't even realized that he was dead. It just decided to lie next to the body and promptly went off to sleep again.

Sameen had shown up as usual and was surprised to find she collected the soul.

"Root, he isn't like one of your usuals. This guy is popular in his circles. They will come looking for him" She sounded concerned.

"Sameen, I didn't know you cared." Root smiled mischievously.

Death just stared back at her with dead eyes.

"I needed money. It's not cheap to arrange these meeting, you know, besides his people don't even know who to look for." Root sat down and opened the duffel bags to check the contents.

The first one was full of money. She had no interest in counting it at the moment. The second bag was a lot more interesting. There was more variety of guns in there that she had ever seen in her life. But what surprised her was the axe she found at the bottom of the bag.

It wasn't even an ordinary axe. This was more like a Viking battle axe. It was double axe with ornate carving and a spike adorning the top. Root lifted it to check the weight, and was surprised to find that she could handle it quite well. She tried a few moves with it as Death looked on, amused.

"I think this guy was also dealing with Vikings." Root grinned at Sameen and she leaned on the axe.

"Just be careful, you're starting to take chances." Death warned Root and left with Peter's soul.

Root knew that Death was right, but she was still going to go ahead with her plan. Even though after getting her hands on Peter's stash she had enough money but she figured a little more money wouldn't hurt. But if she was being truthful the only reason she was going after the next guy was purely for the thrill of it. She just wanted to know if she could take him.

* * *

><p>The Brotherhood's enforcer was a tough guy. He was well over six feet and looked very formidable. He was also smart. That's why his true identity was known to very few. To a majority of his crew he was Mini, just a mid-level enforcer, the guy who would handle the deliveries and take care of the payments. It was only Link and a couple of other who knew that he was in fact Dominic, the mastermind behind The Brotherhood. The anonymity gave him a certain amount of freedom and also provided safety from the cops.<p>

Of late, things had been going well for Dominic. Elias had disappeared after their last run in with each other and after his disappearance the other gangs had fallen in line. He was now the de facto ruler of the criminal underworld in the city. This was what he had always wanted, he had always deserved. For once in his life he was rethinking his philosophy, everyone does dies in the end, but maybe he could live longer than everyone else. It was just that fate and Root had other plans.

Dominic had picked up the bulk of the cash from a local Laundromat close to midnight. He had two guys with him for security. Mini always said that you could never be too sure of what waited for you in the shadows and that night he was absolutely right. There was something waiting in the shadows, it just wasn't what he expected.

He was sitting in the back seat of the Range Rover with his crew in the front. He was on his way to his house when the car just came to a halt in the middle of a deserted patch of road. He called out to his men but there was no response. He suddenly felt something move next to him but he couldn't quite make out in the darkness of the car. He reached for his gun when he felt a sharp sting in his stomach. He looked down and saw a tranquilizer dart sticking out of his stomach. He was about to reach for it when he got hit by another one in his shoulder. He began to lose consciousness. He turned his head in the direction of the shots and saw a woman's face smiling back at him and incredibly enough she was sitting right next to him.

The last thought in his mind before he passed out was, "Where the fuck did she come from?"

* * *

><p>Dominic woke up sometime later. He looked around and saw that he was in, what looked like an abandoned warehouse. Some part of the roof was gone and he could see the stars through it. He mind was racing, trying to figure out what was going on. A multitude of questions were rising in him mind like,<p>

Who had come after him?

Was it Elias?

Had someone in his own gang betrayed him?

And more importantly,

Who was that woman in his car?

He never got the answers to any of those questions except the last one.

He tried to move but found that he was tied to a metal chair which had been bolted to the concrete floor below. His hands were tied behind his back. He struggled with his restraints and his restraints started cutting through his skin as he struggled.

"I know you're strong, but unless you want to slit your own wrists and bleed to death I would suggest you stop struggling. I've tied you up with razor wire."

Dominic looked in the direction of the voice. In the little bit of moonlight streaming in through the broken roof he could make out the shape of a tall woman leaning against one of the support columns. She turned and looked at him and smiled. As she started to walk towards him he realized that she was the same woman he had seen in his car and he still had no idea how she got in there. He also noticed something odd about her. He couldn't quite make out her feet. It was like they were always shrouded in shadows, as if the shadows didn't want to let go of her. It unnerved him, but he put on a brave face.

"What the fuck do you want?" He asked angrily.

"Your money, but I already have it." The woman replied, still smiling.

The woman seemed a bit unhinged to Dominic. He was starting get worried. He tried to keep intimidating her.

"You have no idea who you're messing with, bitch. You better kill me, because if I get out here I am going to find you and then I'm going to make you wish you were dead."

The woman just grinned in return, "Well your death can definitely be arranged. What is it that you keep telling your friends, in the end everyone dies? Well, guess what this is the end for you."

Dominic heard a scraping sound and saw that the woman was holding a double sided axe in her right hand. It was strange that he hadn't noticed it earlier. He instinctively tried to move back.

The woman noticed the movement and chuckled, "Oh, don't worry, this isn't for killing you." She was referring to the axe, "This is for later. I might have to chop you up, it might make disposal easier. You are big guy after all."

Dominic stared at her in horror. This couldn't be happening to him, he thought.

"You see, you're already dead. I injected you with a poison, one of my favorite recipes. It should start affecting you any second now."

And as if on cue, Dominic felt a strange tingling sensation in his extremities. He was beginning to feel faint. He felt his nose starting to water and even his eyes were watering. He just didn't know that he was actually bleeding. He suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest and his body went rigid. He struggled to breathe and his heart began to beat erratically.

As his body started to shut down he had only one thought running through his mind, "It can't end like this."

Root kept looking and a less than a minute later the big guy breathed his last. She saw his soul standing next to his body and it looked furious.

Death showed up momentarily.

"He looks angry. Let me tie him up, I think he might try and run." Sameen said as she looked at Dominic and then she waved her hand and Dominic was suddenly covered in a strange box which then began to fold in on itself with Dominic inside it. Root could hear the soul inside yelling but soon the box was no bigger than a cell phone. Sameen picked it up and put it in her pocket.

Root was beginning to feel like she had made a mistake. She just didn't know what it was, but she had been having that feeling ever since she had picked up Mini. She turned towards Death.

"Sameen, can read a soul's life."

"Of course."

"Could you read his?"

"Sure, but why?" Death asked.

"I don't know, I'm just curious, there was something about the way in which he threatened me. I felt like I was missing something, like I didn't know the big picture."

Death took out the box and held it in its palm and closed its eyes. When they opened they looked a little worried.

"What? Did I screw up?"

Death sighed.

"I think screwed up might be the understatement of the year."


	4. Chapter 4

The two African American men sat in the diner finishing their meal. The older man ate, confident and relaxed in the knowledge that they were in their own neighborhood and nothing could harm them here. The younger man didn't share his confidence.

It was close to midnight and the younger one seemed ill at ease. He seemed distracted. He was continuously tapping his feet and playing with what little remained of his burger and fries. The older man was still eating and the constant tapping was starting to get on his nerves. He, finally, decided that he'd had enough of it and slammed his hand on the table. This sudden interruption jolted the younger man back to reality.

"Kenny, do you think I could finish my apple pie in peace? I don't think I need you to tap dance while I'm eating." The older man growled.

"Sorry Jacob, didn't mean to disturb you. It's just that with everything that's happened, I'm you know… a little worried."

Kenneth had known Jacob since he was a kid. Jacob was a career criminal. In his forties now, he'd done three stints in prison for crimes ranging from grand theft to assault and battery. He had been a suspect in various homicides but none of them had ever been proven. He had also been part of one gang or another for a majority of his life. Over the years he had known a string of ambitious men who had wanted to rule the city and he always knew which one to follow. But he was only loyal till a point. He had always known when to switch sides without it looking like betrayal. Usually that point came right after someone would put a bullet in his current boss. That was what had led him to join the Brotherhood. It was Link who had shot his previous master and had made him a simple offer, either he could join his boss or join them. It was the simplest decision Jacob had ever made.

Kenneth had joined the Brotherhood a few months after Jacob had come on board. Jacob had known Kenny's father before he was sent to prison for life and he had promised that he would take care of his son. Kenny wasn't a smart kid and by the age of nineteen everyone knew that he had very few prospects. But, he was good at taking orders and executing them and sometimes that was all that was expected. He also had no problems with pulling a trigger. Both those qualities made him a good low-level soldier. Jacob had recommended his name to Link and Link had accepted and for a while things had been good. In fact, things had been very good and why wouldn't they be. Ever since their boss had defeated Elias, who had then disappeared, they controlled the city.

But all that sense of power and superiority had completely vanished since Dominic's disappearance nearly ten days ago. Now all they were left with was a continuous sense of dread and uncertainty which was what Jacob could see reflected in Kenny.

"It's been ten days now and we still have nothing... and then there's Darryl." Kenny whispered to Jacob worried that someone might hear his thoughts.

"Kenny, you have to stop doing this to yourself. You're panicking for no reason. There is no boogeyman out there hunting us."

Kenny looked around to make sure that they were indeed out of earshot of the rest of the patrons.

"But I'm telling you man, it happened. One minute Darryl was there and then shadows and then nothing. He was just… gone. Maybe that's what happened to Dominic too."

"And you saw with your own eyes." Jacob asked.

"No, but Zeke was there, he saw everything. He told me. He said he heard Darryl empty his entire clip into a dark alley and by the time Zeke got there, there was nothing. No Darryl, no gun, no body, nothing."

"God damn it Kenny, Zeke's a fucking coke head. Most days he can't tell the difference between a dog and a car. Do you know he tried to shove his car keys into a dog's ass trying to start it, thinking that was his car? For all he knows, Darryl could have been abducted by aliens." Jacob rolled his eyes in disapproval. He expected more common sense from his friend's son.

But Kenny was in no mood to listen to reason.

"But, what about the Russians, and all those pimps and dealers? People have been talking. I'm telling you man there's something out there."

To Jacob, Kenny was beginning to sound like a conspiracy nut. He might as well have been telling Jacob that he saw Big Foot in the city.

"Kenny, you don't need a boogeyman for any of this stuff. I could just be Elias. I'm telling you, Dominic should have killed him when he had the chance and now he's back for revenge. Dominic's gone, the Russians are losing people. It could be time to jump ship again."

Kenny knew he wouldn't be able to convince Jacob so he remained silent. Once Jacob had finished his pie, they paid and left the diner. They both lived not too far from each other so they were walking back home together and Kenny was grateful for that. He wouldn't admit it to anyone, because it might make him look weak, but he was terrified.

The diner was usually open all night and by the time they left, it was mostly occupied by the usual night time patrons. Jacob and Kenny knew most of them and they waved their goodnights to everyone as they left for home. It was a little over half past midnight and there were a fair few people outside the diner, some of them working and some just hanging around. But as Kenny and Jacob made their way down the street the crowd started to thin out. By the time they were a few blocks away they were completely alone. Even though it was a trip that Kenny had made since he was a kid, considering the events of the past few weeks, Kenny was beginning to grow increasingly nervous.

The streets were lined with a few trees and the sidewalks were littered with garbage. Occasionally they would step on a broken bottle or accidently kick a can. The sounds generated were amplified in the empty street. Kenny was starting to get extremely jumpy. Every single sound, even the occasional rustling of the leaves, would cause him to panic. To him it felt as if behind every darkened window and in every alley way, there were monsters lying in wait to drag him into the abyss. Strangely enough he wasn't too far from the truth.

Jacob, on the other hand, was completely oblivious to Kenny's increasing paranoia. Kenny had never been this glad for the company, but the companionship wasn't meant to be. Soon they reached a crossroads where their ways would part. Kenny's house was just across the road to the left and Jacob had to travel through an alley on the right to get to his house.

Kenny very reluctantly waved goodnight to Jacob and increased his pace to get to his front door. Even though the streets were lined with street lights not all of them functioned, but luckily the one in front of Kenny's house worked just fine. Kenny could see his front door lit up by the warm glow of the street light and with every step the doorway grew larger. It welcomed him like a lover waiting to take him in her warm embrace. Kenny's walk turned into a run and at last Kenny reached his doorway. He had never felt so relieved in his entire life.

Kenny laughed a little at how paranoid he had gotten and chided himself for letting his imagination getting the better of him. Just as he was about to enter the safety of his own home, He turned towards his right to see if he could still spot Jacob and he could. Jacob had just reached the entrance of the alley that led to his house. But just as Jacob turned into the alley the street light next to it went out. Kenny's paranoia returned, but he told himself that these neighborhoods were poorly managed by the local govt. and that streets went out regularly. But then something else happened.

Kenny began to notice the shadows starting to move. It made no sense to him. It was as if they were built of fluid and they all collectively began to flow into the alley after Jacob. Kenny didn't know what to do. A part of him screamed that he should just open the door and get inside his house, but Jacob was his friend and Kenny chose to be brave instead.

Jacob had just entered the alley when the light behind him went out. It didn't bother him as much. Jacob knew these streets better than the back of his hand and he didn't need a light to get home. He paused for a bit to let his eyes acclimate to the dark. Just as he was about to start walking again, he heard something move next to him. He turned to see what it was when he heard something move behind him. He turned around and to his surprise was faced with a wall of darkness. He couldn't see the street anymore. He felt something brush past him and finally Jacob began to panic. He pulled out his gun and put the safety off and pointed it in front of him. He whirled around to see if he could see anyone but there was nobody there. Then the voices started. Strange whispers came from the shadows. They spoke to him and about him. They knew his darkest secrets and his greatest fears. They talked about all the things he had done and the things they would like to do to him. The chattering in the shadows grew louder and Jacob could catch glimpses of the things that hid in the shadows. They somehow didn't seem right, like they shouldn't exist. They looked like the fevered imagination of a very twisted mind and they were moving towards him.

Jacob had had enough. He opened fire and hit nothing. The shadows kept advancing. It was then he felt another presence in the dark and a strangely beautiful voice spoke out.

"Don't worry, they won't hurt you. Not unless I tell them to." It was a woman's voice and she sounded amused.

Jacob wasn't amused. He trained his gun in the direction of the voice and fired. By now his panic had reached a fever pitch and he emptied his entire magazine into the shadows.

The shadows went silent for a moment as the sound of gunfire echoed through the alley but it returned with an even greater ferocity. Jacob began to feel like he was caught in a nightmare and he decided to make a run for it, but just as he was about to start a figure stepped out of the dark. It was a woman, dressed in jeans and leather jacket and she smiled at him.

"That was excellent shooting, but can't really kill shadows" saying that the woman shot him with a taser.

Jacob's body went rigid with the shock and the woman kept smiling, a very unhinged smile.

Kenny heard the gunfire and increased his pace. He was running as fast as he could, trying to reach the dark alley and just as he reached the entrance he saw the shadows come to life. Jacob was lying on the ground, unconscious and he was surrounded by shadows that seemed to be pulling him in. There were claws reaching out from the darkness to drag him into their world and watching all of this was a woman and then she saw him.

She looked right at him as smiled. Her eyes glowed slightly but then a hundred other glowing eyes opened in the shadows and they all saw him. Kenny was about to scream but the woman lifted a finger to her lips and his scream never left his throat. He was frozen in his place. The shadows began to advance upon him but then the woman spoke.

"No, leave him be. We already have what we need, maybe next time."

And as if on her command all the shadows immediately retreated and covered the woman and in an instant they were gone and so was Jacob.

Kenny was still frozen in his place when the street lights came back on. He was shaking and only thought went through his mind.

"Zeke was right. The boogeyman is real and it's a woman."

* * *

><p>The knife moved once again, as it had moved before, through the base of the neck with cold and deadly precision. The kill was quick, death near instantaneous. It had been nearly a month since Dominic and Root was eager to see Sameen again. But the delay had been necessary. Root needed to ensure that she had the key ingredient in store and needed additional equipment to keep things safe and secure. But now it was all done and she waited impatiently for Death's arrival. She heard a sound behind her and turned.<p>

"I thought you were going to lay low for while?" Sameen asked as she collected the soul.

"I was laying low. But I missed you." Root smiled.

"You're going to get yourself killed, Root."

"Don't worry, I've taken precautions." Root grinned slyly.

Death looked at her curiously and then noticed a truck with a large container attached to it parked in the warehouse.

"What's in the truck, Root?" Death asked suspiciously.

"Nothing, just supplies. You want some doughnuts." Root was trying to divert Sameen's attention from the truck. But Death isn't easily distracted.

Sameen vanished and appeared next to the truck. Root ran the distance to catch up to her. Just as she reached Sameen opened the container doors.

"Root, what is the hell have you done?" Death looked at the contents of the container and asked.

Inside the container were six men strapped down on metal beds. They were all unconscious with an IV drip that was feeding them intravenously. The drip also contained a sedative to ensure that none of them woke up before they were needed. There were tubes sticking in other places to ensure that it didn't get messy. Root had indeed spent the last month picking up a lot of new skills. It looked like a scene from a horror film.

"It's nothing. They're just supplies, so that I don't have to go out hunting every few weeks. It's really dangerous out there on the streets right now."

"And whose fault is that?" Death was starting to sound a little angry.

Root just grinned sheepishly.

"Root, this is insane. You can't just go about kidnapping people."

"It's fine, they're all bad guys. No one's going to miss them. Besides I'll make sure they die painlessly." Root replied nonchalantly.

"Root can't you see how crazy you sound right now. These are people not cattle."

"You didn't have a problem with it before." Root was beginning to get a little angry herself.

"Because at first I thought it was cute that someone was willing to go to that extent just to meet me. But now you're really starting to lose your mind."

"But I'm doing this for you. How else can I see you?" Root sounded defensive.

"Root this is wrong and you know it. But if you can't see that yourself, then I can't sit down and try to explain to you how nuts all of this is."

"But… I like you. I'm doing all of this for you." Root repeated herself sounding a little desperate.

Sameen knew that it would be impossible to reason with Root and besides she was needed in other places.

"Root, I can't do this, I need to go. I have a job to do." Her tone was colder than she intended it to be. But she couldn't stand there and watch this person that she liked descend into madness.

So, saying that Death vanished, leaving a heart broken Root behind.

Root was still looking at the place where Sameen last stood.

"But, I thought you liked me."

She stood there and kept repeating those same words over and over again. She couldn't understand why Sameen was mad at her. Those people were nothing more than supplies. They were just a means to an end. She loved her, how could Sameen not see that.

Feeling depressed and distraught Root went about the job of disposing off the body. She promised herself that she would make it up to Sameen next time. She would get her something fancy to eat, that would make Sammen like her again.

Root liked her plan and the more she thought about it the happier she felt. She told herself that this was just a minor issue and the next time they meet everything would be fine.

* * *

><p>The room was littered with dead bodies. There was blood splatter on the walls and pools of dried blood on the floor. There were shell casing strewn across the floor like glitter. The cops and the forensic teams were going about their jobs trying to identify the bodies and the cause of their demise, even though that wasn't going to be a very difficult thing to do.<p>

Fusco was climbing up the eight flights of stairs to get to the scene of the crime, it was on days like these that he wished that he was in better shape or that all buildings had a working elevator. Martine was already upstairs checking out the crime scene.

Eventually, after much huffing and puffing Fusco managed to get to the top of the rundown building. He took out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat off his brow as he made his way into the room.

"Holy fuck, what the hell happened here? This is like a friggin' war zone." Fusco commented as he laid his eyes on the scene of destruction. Martine looked at him and grinned. She scared him a bit considering how much she enjoyed violence. But she was also a good detective and knew how to close cases.

"So, what do we have?" Fusco asked Martine who was back to taking some notes.

"Looks like nine bodies. We had three survivors that were taken to the hospital. The news from the hospital is that at least one of them won't make till tomorrow, multiple gunshots to the torso and legs, and another one is in critical condition. The third one might be in a condition to talk in a couple of days."

Fusco started to look at the bodies to see if he could identify any of them.

"These guys look like The Brotherhood and from the tattoos of the other guys, they are definitely Russians. Is there a war going on that we aren't aware off? This is the third time this month they have had an altercation." He stopped talking for a while as if he was trying to connect the dots in his mind. "You think this could have something to do with those missing persons we been hearing about."

"I don't know. That could be one of the reasons, but I think we are missing something even bigger" Martine replied.

After a little while, they both made their way out of the building after they had spoken with the forensics team and the other cops. The building itself was pretty rundown and the few residents that remained were hardly the talkative sort. The rest of the building was used by various smaller gangs to run their operations. Most of those had disappeared after the shootout.

Fusco had instructed the cops to take statements of any of the residents that were willing to talk. He knew it was an exercise in futility but it had to be done. You never know what information one might get.

Just as they exited the building, Martine noticed that Harold Finch and a tall man in a suit were waiting for them by their car. The tall man looked vaguely familiar but she couldn't quite place him.

Harold limped forward and greeted them both as the detectives approached them.

"Detective Rousseau, a pleasure to meet you, I wish we were meeting under less violent circumstances."

Martine shook his outstretched hand and smiled in return.

"What are you doing down here Finch. Shouldn't you be upstairs taking photos and notes?" Fusco inquired.

"I wish I could" Harold smiled and pointed towards his leg. "I'll send my associate up later. By the way allow me to introduce Mr. John Reese. He's my new assistant. He's been helping me out with the library and the blog." Harold said as he pointed towards his partner.

The tall man stepped forward and smiled shyly as if he wasn't used to human company. Martine and Fusco politely smiled in return.

At Harold stepped in a little closer and spoke softly, "But that's not why I'm here, Detectives. I think I might finally know the reason for all this gang violence that the city's been witnessing off late."

They both looked at him with a sudden rise in interest.

"But not here, let's go some place where there aren't so many police officers."

"Why, do you suspect anyone?" Fusco asked.

"No one in particular but I would like to give this information to you two alone. Then you can decide if you want to share it with your superiors and other colleagues." Harold answered.

"Fair enough, you drive and we'll follow."

They all got in their respective cars and a little while later were having coffee in a local diner.

"Alright, so what do you know, Finch?" Fusco continued the conversation they had started at the crime scene.

Harold sat there for a while in silence, staring at his tea. He was trying to figure out exactly where to start.

"I don't know where it all begins but I think I know the tipping point."

Everyone kept staring at him in silence waiting for him to continue.

"About a month back, maybe a little more, two people disappeared. One of those you both know, Peter Yogorov, Weapons dealer and gun runner for the Russian mob. He ran their entire weapons trade for the east coast."

"Yeah, I knew him, been trying to nail that son of a bitch for years." Fusco interjected.

Harold smiled a little and continued.

"The other was a mid-level enforcer for The Brotherhood named Mini and that's where the trouble starts."

"Why? Why would anyone be bothered about some glorified thug?" asked Martine.

"Because, and this took a lot of digging to find out, Mini wasn't just an enforcer for the brotherhood. He was a lot more. In fact he was the leader."

The Detectives kept staring at him as if he had lost his mind. Harold took out a piece of paper and began to write on it. The detectives leaned across the table to see what he was writing. He wrote the words MINI and then started to add letters before and after it. He added "DO" to the start and "C" at the end.

"Mini was the hidden leader of the Brotherhood. Mini was Dominic."

There was pin drop silence at the table. Martine and Fusco had no idea how to react. This was way more than anything that they had expected.

"So you're saying that someone took out Dominic and this is what, retaliation." Fusco asked Harold.

Harold remained quiet for a while before he answered.

"I don't think so."

"Then what?" asked Lionel curiously.

"I am assuming that you are aware of the other disappearances within the various gang territories, right?"

Martine nodded her head.

"Yes, but we just assumed it was to do with the gangs going at each other." Martine expressed her views on the matter.

"I don't think so. I think there might be more to it than that. I haven't found a lot to go on because no one has seen anything. But maybe you the two of you might have more success than me."

"You think they are connected." Martine said.

"I think they are, I just don't know how. But I think it didn't start with Peter Yogorov and Dominic. It probably started much before that. I think there's somebody out there, someone who's targeting criminals."

"You mean, like a vigilante." Fusco commented.

"Maybe, I'm not entirely sure, Detective Fusco. But I think you two should definitely start looking into this." Harold suggested.

The Detectives knew that Harold was on to something. It lined up with what Martine had suspected that all the disappearances were somehow connected. They just had no idea how far back it all went and how Dominic tied into it. But maybe it was time to find out.

* * *

><p>Most investigations into unsolved cases are slow going. One day can roll into another which can turn into weeks and there might be nothing to show for it. Lionel and Martine had managed to convince their captain to give them some amount of breathing room on the matter but even they were finding it hard to be motivated. Add to that the fact that no one was actually willing to talk about the missing given their chosen professions made their jobs even more difficult.<p>

In the meantime, Root had come down with a bad case of cough and cold. All those days spent in damp and cold warehouses had finally started to have its effect. Root had decided to take some time off and just be on her own, while at the same time, the detectives slowly and painstakingly tried to paint the big picture.

And after weeks of toiling on a seemingly fruitless mission the big picture finally started to emerge for the detectives and it wasn't pretty. They had close to a dozen missing if not more. They were mostly low level drug dealers, pimps and other assorted criminals. The detectives agreed that whoever had painted this picture was really smart. The person had picked targets that no one would ever report missing which had made their job even more difficult.

"I think we are still missing something here." Fusco remarked.

Martine looked up from her desk. It was late and night and they were both tired but they were finally close to making sense of this.

"What makes you say that?"

"I don't know. It's these gaps we have between the cases. Like after every three or four we get a month or two of nothing, why?" Fusco asked. It was a question that had been bothering them both.

Martine's eyes suddenly lit up. Lionel realized that she probably had a theory.

"What if our hunter is moving to other cities? He kills a few here and then to not raise any suspicion decides to move to another city and then hunt there. It could explain the gaps. What do you think?" Martine asked looking at him.

Lionel thought about it for a while and agreed with her. The thought seemed plausible, but they didn't have the authority or the jurisdiction to check out other cities, but He knew someone who did. He checked his watch. It was close to ten at night, he decided that it wasn't too late to call and dialed the number. Martine looked on curiously.

"Who are you calling?"

"A friend, someone who could get us the information we need." Lionel smiled and replied.

On the other end the phone was ringing. Lionel waited patiently for someone to answer. He checked his watch again as it rang. Maybe they had gone out, he began to think when the phone was answered.

"Yes?" asked a slightly tired voice.

"Hey Joss, it's Lionel" Fusco answered cheerfully. It was good to hear her voice.

"Lionel, hi. Sorry I didn't check the name on the phone before answering it. How are you, it's been a while."

"The same, nothing really changes in the city. How is your training going on?"

"It's almost over. I am going to give my exams soon and then I will find out where I'm going to get assigned, So, why the late phone call?" Carter inquired.

Lionel explained the entire situation to her.

"Ok, I'll ask Agent Donnelly to check and see if there are any such reports. I will get back to you in a few days."

"Thanks Joss, so how are things otherwise. How's Taylor?." Lionel inquired.

"Taylor's great. He's made quite a few friends at his new school and Paul's been visiting him often now that he's better." Joss sounded truly happy. Lionel was glad that she was finally getting the success and happiness that she deserved.

"And how's Cal?" Fusco asked with a grin on his face. For a second there was nothing but silence on the line.

"He's fine", Joss replied in slightly shy tone, "He drops by whenever he can. Taylor likes him too. He said once I get my transfer orders, he'll put in for his as well."

"I figured as much. He's spoken to the captain about it. You two seem to getting pretty serious."

"Well, I like him but I'm taking it one step at a time. We'll see how it goes."

"You know what Carter, I'm really happy for you. But it's getting late and I don't want to bother you for too long. Good night." Fusco said.

"Good night Lionel. It was really nice talking to you and I'll call you back when I have that information you need."

* * *

><p>Root was feeling much better and had also picked up some Korean food for Sameen. It had been almost a month since her fight with Death. She was hoping that she would be able to make it up to her this time. In the past month she had only made the trip to check in on the cargo. To make sure that they were all asleep and that their other needs were taken care off. Her system was quite self sustaining so she didn't have to do too much. But now she was back and she had pulled one of them out of his deep slumber and tied him to a chair.<p>

She contemplated as to how to kill him but just decided to make it quick, since that was what she had promised Death. So she did her thing and waited.

Nothing happened for almost a minute. She looked around; it was unlike Death to be late. The man's soul had started to wander and then she heard a strange sound like something rushing by her. The wind blew her hair and she saw a black blur move towards the soul. It touched the soul and then disappeared.

Root just stood there stunned. She couldn't believe what had happened. Did Sameen just completely ignore her?

"Sameen. Sameen?" she called out. Her voice echoed through the warehouse but there was no reply. She didn't know what to do. She called out again.

"Sameen, I'm sorry about last time. Please come back." She screamed in desperation. But once again there was no reply. Then she got angry. She knew what to do. She knew exactly how to get her back.

Root stormed into the truck and pulled out another body. She dumped him on a wheelchair and pulled him out of the trailer. Even in her anger she knew better than to ruin her truck.

She dragged him out and slit his throat. Blood poured out of his opened neck and turned the man's clothes red. He never regained consciousness and she slowly felt him deflate as the life slipped out of him.

Root waited tensely for Death to show and once again the same thing happened. The black wind just roared past her, collected the soul and disappeared.

"Sameen" Root shouted. She was now furious.

She did it a third time. Another man died but Death never slowed down. Root knew Death wasn't coming back. She broke down and fell to the ground, next to the dead body, sobbing uncontrollably. She just wanted to see her love and she felt like she had lost her and she didn't understand why.

Everything she had done over the past eight months had just been for her. She had done terrible things just so that she could be with the woman she loved. How could Sameen not see that?

After she was all cried out she picked herself up and sat at the edge of the container looking over the ones that still remained. She didn't know what she would do with them if Death wasn't going to return. She felt hollow inside. She sat there and stared into the distance blankly. It was as if she had completely lost the will to live.

Soon the Shadows started to swarm around her. They liked her and considered her a friend and a compatriot. They could sense her despair and wanted to help her. She spoke with them for a while, it made her feel better. They promised they would find a way to help her win Death back. But they still had their hunger to feed and there were three bodies lying there and they couldn't resist the temptation. They asked if they could take them.

"Yeah, sure, whatever. Take them, they're all yours." Root replied. She didn't really care at that moment. In hindsight maybe she should have. But it made the shadows happy and she figured that at least someone should be happy at that moment.

Root cleaned up a little and finally went back home. She had never felt that alone in her entire life.

* * *

><p>"I think I have something." Martine walked up to Fusco's desk and told him excitedly.<p>

"What?"

"I think I found that witness we were looking for."

"Which witness?" Fusco was trying to recollect whatever it is that Martine was talking about.

"Don't you remember that junkie we spoke with downtown? What was his name? The jittery one." Now it was Martine turn to struggle with her memories, but at that moment Lionel caught on to what Martine was referring to.

"You mean Zeke. Yeah, I remember talking to him. How can I forget? The man was going on and on about demons and monsters with sharp claws and teeth. Oh and monsters that were made of shadows. Yeah, he was very reliable." Fusco rolled his eyes.

"Yes, I agree that he wasn't all there but maybe there was some truth to what he was saying. He definitely saw something but in his doped out mind he just added a lot of stuff to it. But he did mention that the demon that he saw was a woman and he also said that his friend Kenny saw it too." Martine emphasized on Kenny.

"So what, you think that Zeke was right?"

"Not entirely, but we can always ask Kenny?" Martine smiled.

"You found him. You found Kenny." Fusco stood up from his seat. His eyes lit up. This could be the big break they were looking for.

"Yes, I did. He's at Laketown Hospital. He had some kind of a mental breakdown. He's been there for nearly two months for psychiatric treatment after, according to him, his friend Jacob was taken by shadow monsters. And guess what, Jacob was a member of the Brotherhood so he definitely fits the pattern" Martine explained with a satisfied look on her face. She had put in a lot of work looking for Kenny and it just might pay off.

A couple of days later they got some time off from their regular cases and decided to visit Kenny.

The psychiatric wing of the hospital wasn't a pleasant place to be. It looked like the rest of the hospital except that the some of the doors and windows were barred to prevent the patients from escaping. Fusco also caught glimpses of patients restrained to their beds to avoid them from harming themselves and others. Fusco felt bad for these people. It was a terrible thing to lose one's mind. To not know who you are. He couldn't imagine a worse fate than that.

The Doctor had been very helpful and took them to Kenny's room. It was stark white room with no furniture and Kenny sat in the furthest corner from the door.

"On most days he's quite normal and easy to talk to as long as you can handle the rambling. Just don't approach him, otherwise he will start to get hysterical. The thing is, it's not you that he's afraid of, it's your shadow. He believes that there are monsters hidden with it and they are just waiting to kill him. SO you can ask him anything you want as long as you keep your distance." The doctor explained Kenny's situation and the ground rules.

Fusco and Martine entered the room and stood near the wall so as to avoid scaring him.

Kenny was at the far end of the room facing the white cushioned walls. The room was a brightly lit as possible without everyone going blind, but it was still too bright. Both the detectives took a little bit of time to adjust to the light levels.

"Kenny, I'm Detective Fusco and this is Detective Martine we had a few questions for you."

After what seemed like an eternity Kenny finally turned around. Fusco saw that he was just a young man, barely in his twenties, but he was ravaged by his fears. It seemed like he had barely slept in weeks and looked nothing like his mug shot. He was less than a half of his former weight. In his eyes Fusco could see the paranoia that had eaten away at this man as his eyes darted around looking for those imaginary monsters that according to him lurked in the shadows. After a bit his eyes finally settled on them.

"Hi, I didn't see you two standing there." He eyes darted around again. He had a manic energy to him, like he was a man trying to escape his own shadow.

"Kenny, Kenny." Martine spoke a little louder to get his attention back.

Kenny's eyes snapped back to them.

"Kenny we need to ask you about Jacob. Can you tell us what happened?" Martine's voice softened again.

"Hmm, Jacob. I liked Jacob. He was so nice to me. He was always there for me and then they took him. Those things took him." Kenny's voice was shaking as he spoke.

"What things?"

"Those things, they are right behind you. They are hiding in the shadows." He said pointing at them.

Fusco and Martine knew that there wasn't much of a point talking to Kenny. They probably wouldn't get anything of importance from him. They began to turn to leave when Kenny spoke again.

"And she was with them."

Fusco and Martine stopped turning and looked back at Kenny who by now was busy rambling to himself.

"She? Who's she?" Lionel asked gently. He didn't want to scare Kenny now that they were finally onto something useful.

"She was. She was with the shadows and and… I was about to scream and she told me not to, so I didn't and the shadows they wanted me too but she stopped them. But she took Jacob and then she smiled at me, she had nice smile. Why did she take Jacob? He was nice." Kenny turned and looked towards them and then shuffled up to them, "Could you bring him back. I really miss him and if you find her can you tell her that I won't tell anyone about the shadows. I'll keep my mouth shut just ask her to tell them to leave me alone. Please." Kenny had grabbed on to Lionel by now as was desperately pleading with him.

Lionel felt bad for the young man. Even though Kenny was a criminal, Lionel wouldn't wish this fate anyone. He wanted to help him but he just didn't know how.

"I will Kenny. I'll find Jacob and when I find the woman I'll ask her to talk the shadows, OK" Lionel tried to console the young man.

Kenny's eyes lit up.

"You will. Thank you. Tell her she can trust me. I won't tell anyone about them. Just tell them to leave me alone. Just leave me alone. I know how to keep my mouth shut. That's what Jacob always said to me. Don't be a rat. I'm not a rat. No sir, I'm not."

Kenny had gone back to his rambling. Lionel and Martine took it as a cue to leave.

"So what, we go on the word of a junkie and a mental patient that our perp might be a woman?" Lionel asked as they stepped out of the room.

"That's better than nothing and at least it gives us a direction."

Lionel knew Martine was right. Something was better than nothing.

They thanked the doctor and left the hospital.

On their way out Lionel got a phone call. They made their way out and stood by the car while Fusco finished the call.

"Thanks a lot, Joss. I owe you one."

Lionel pocketed the phone and looked at Martine and smiled.

"What?" Martine looked at him expectantly.

"Let's drive, I'll tell you on the way back."

They got back on the road and Martine wasn't quite able to control herself.

"Are you going to tell me or do I have to shoot you?"

Lionel grinned, "We might have some news, just don't get your hopes up too high."

"Yeah fine, just tell me already." Martine was beginning to get frustrated.

"Joss had Agent Donnelly check up and see if there were any criminals missing in the neighboring cities. Even though they have very few actually reported missing there are a too many rumors to dismiss it completely. By their count they have at least another eight or ten missing. They don't have an exact number but then neither do we."

Martine was happy with the news. It filled in the gap in their findings.

"Anything about a woman, any witnesses?"

"Sorry, nothing and since it's all majorly rumors, the FBI can't even officially launch an investigation. So it seems that it's just the two of us." Lionel shrugged.

Martine smiled back and they drove off towards the precinct. They were just happy with the fact that at least they had a potential suspect or that they probably knew the gender of the suspect.

And that wasn't a bad start.

* * *

><p>"Well, fuck you. I don't need your project either." Root slammed the phone down.<p>

She had been a bad mood all week, ever since Death had seemingly abandoned her. She had tried to pick up some freelance work to keep herself occupied but in her current mood she was hardly in any state to finish a project. She almost contemplated killing that irritating client but decided to let it pass.

She only had the shadows to keep her company and they weren't really good at lifting up her mood. But she was grateful for the company nonetheless.

They had brought her good news though. They knew of a way by which they could capture Death, well not exactly capture but it would definitely make Death stop for awhile.

"So, this will work."

Root stood in the middle of the room surrounded by her sharp clawed friends who all nodded in unison.

"OK, so I can tie down a soul to the body even after it's dead and so when Death comes to collect it then it won't be able to and then I'll get to talk to her."

They shadows nodded again.

This seemed like a workable plan. The shadows had given her a list of things to buy for the spell and none of them were hard to acquire. She got ready, picked up her backpack, put on her hoodie and stepped out into the corridor and it was then that she started to hear the commotion.

It was her next door neighbor, her ex-boyfriend was back to trouble her. On most days Root wouldn't have cared but today the arguments seemed to be getting really loud. Root stood by her door and kept watching as the man kept verbally abusing the woman.

The woman was starting to get scared and she was struggling to take out her phone to probably call the police. The man saw this and grabbed the phone from her hand and threw it against the wall. After that he began to move towards her.

"What do think you are going to do, bitch? You going to call the cops on me." He shouted at her and raised his hand. That was as far as Root was going to let it go.

The next moment man found himself flying through the air as he slammed into the opposite wall. There was a very loud crunch sound and it seemed like the man probably broke something. He was still lying on the floor trying to pick himself up, still dazed as to what exactly happened when a woman crouched next to him and she didn't look happy at all.

"That was me being gentle. If you ever come near her again I will rip you shreds, understand." Root growled at him.

Now it was the man's turn to be terrified. He could see that the woman was definitely insane and he knew enough to get out of there. He just nodded and scrambled out of there.

Root stood up and watched him leave. When she turned around she saw her neighbor still looking at her in amazement. Then she immediately rushed forward and hugged her. Root had no idea as to how to react to that. She wasn't one to give into physical displays of affection and no one had hugged her in a very long time. She realized that she liked the feeling and let the woman hug her.

The woman finally stepped back and Root saw that she was crying.

"I'm sorry, it's just that I was so scared. I thought he would have really hurt me this time. If you wouldn't have been there I don't know what he would have done."

Root just smiled back. There was bit of an awkward silence between them.

"I'm Hannah. Hannah Frey." The dark haired woman introduced herself with a smile. At that moment a little girl's head peaked shyly from behind Hannah.

"And this is Gen. My daughter." said Hannah as Gen kept holding on to her, like she was afraid to let go.

"Hi, Gen, I'm Samantha Groves. You can call me Sam." Root smiled back.

Gen smiled in return and once again disappeared behind her mother.

"Thank you very much, Sam. I don't know how to repay you. You want to come in for a while. I have some coffee." Hannah offered.

Root was tempted to go in. Hannah seemed nice and Root felt a strange kind of kinship with her even though she had met her just a few minutes ago, but Root had other pressing matters.

"Maybe next time. I have some errands to run."

"OK. Drop by whenever you feel like."

Root walked a little distance and then stopped and turned.

"Hannah, let me know if that idiot ever comes back."

Hannah smiled and nodded.

* * *

><p>Two days later Root was back in the warehouse. She had already killed two guys and failed in pinning down the soul. She was starting to get frustrated and was also beginning to lose hope. She just had a two more bodies left to get this right.<p>

She had the third one tied and prepped. She hoped she had everything in place this time. The symbols had been carved and she had tied the silver thread to his arm, which according to her friends would prevent the soul from being collected. She took a deep breath and plunged the knife through the man's sternum. He took a while to bleed out and die as Root waited around impatiently. She had asked the shadows if she could kill him in any other way but they had been specific about the method.

But he did die eventually and the black wind appeared again. It grabbed the soul which was standing next to the body and tried to leave but the soul wouldn't budge from its place.

Root had stepped back and was hiding in the shadows to see what was going to happen. She heaved a sigh of relief at the outcome. It had taken her three tries but it had finally worked.

Meanwhile the black smoke kept trying it's best to move the soul but without any success. Eventually it stopped and finally took shape. Root waited for Sameen to appear from the smoke but instead a man appeared. This was completely unexpected.

The man started to inspect the body and saw the symbols carved on the man's chest and the knife driven in the centre of it and then he noticed the thread.

"Haha, very funny. Whoever is here, this isn't amusing. I have a schedule to keep you know."

Root finally stepped out of the shadows.

"Who are you? You're not Death." She looked at him questioningly.

"Of course I am."

"No you're not. You're not Sameen and I've seen all her forms you're not one of those either. So who are you?"

The man seemed genuinely surprised.

"Wait, you know Death and you know her real name. How?"

Root was about to answer when the man spoke again.

"Are you Root? She's mentioned you"

Now it was Root's turn to be surprised.

"She talks about me?" Root couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Oh yeah, she talks about you all the time. She says you're nuts but she also says you have good taste in food. If I was to guess I could go so far as saying that she likes you. But you know her she doesn't like to share her feelings but I've known her long enough to know how she feels about someone even if she won't talk about it." The man smiled.

"Wait, who are you?" Now Root was completely confused. She wasn't expecting this at all.

"Oh, silly me. I'm Cole. I work for her from time to time." Cole stepped forward with an outstretched arm. Root shook his hand.

"Sameen never mentioned she had an assistant."

"Well, I'm sort of in training. She just calls me in when the load is heavy."

"In training?" Root asked.

"Yeah, Someday when another species becomes sentient, I'll get to be their Death." Cole replied, "But those things don't happen very often so I could be here for quite some time." Cole shrugged.

Root finally started to understand, but she still wanted to see Sameen.

"Will she be coming back?" She asked tentatively.

"I don't know. She's sorta busy with those wars that your people keep fighting. At times like these I get called in to take care of the peaceful territories."

"But I miss her." Root almost broke down but somehow managed to hold herself together. Still a single tear managed to escape and roll down her cheek.

Cole didn't know how to respond. He had never been very good at understanding women even when he was alive but he felt like he should help. He could see that Root was clearly insane but she was also very much in love with his boss and from the way his boss spoke about her it was likely that the feeling was mutual and who was he to question love.

"Don't cry. I won't be able to handle that. But maybe I can help you."

Root looked at him, her eyes full of hope, wondering what the man might suggest.

"I could tell her to take the day off from the wars and look after the peaceful regions. I could tell her that I need the experience. I have been assisting her for nearly two thousand years, I could actually use the experience." Cole suggested.

"You could do that." Root asked her eyes lighting up.

"Sure."

"When."

Cole thought about it for a while.

"How about day after tomorrow, would that be fine? I'll make sure she's free that entire day."

Root rushed up to him and kissed him on the cheek.

"Thank you."

Cole blushed a little.

"You're welcome. Now could you let him go? I'm on a schedule." Cole pointed towards the dead man.

Root untied the thread on the man and Cole disappeared. She was happy that it had worked out better than she had expected and also that her fears were unfounded. Sameen wasn't mad at her, she was just busy.

The next two days passed by excruciatingly slowly but they did pass and Root was finally back in warehouse. She was praying that Cole would keep his word and that this time Sameen would show because if she didn't show up then she would have just wasted her final kill that she had in store. Then she would have to go out and try and pick someone else up and even she knew how risky that was going to be.

But her worries were baseless because Sameen did show up and she looked a little grumpy.

"Hey Sameen." Root stepped forward smiling.

"Hi Root." Sameen replied, still grumpy.

"What's wrong?"

Sameen was collecting the soul but she looked extremely distracted.

"What, oh it's nothing. It's my assistant."

"You mean Cole?" Root added.

"Yeah, him. He offered to take over the war zones and I couldn't refuse him after two thousand years. But it's just that I keep thinking I should drop by and see how he's doing but it might seem rude." Sameen explained.

"Yeah, it might. Besides he seemed quite competent" replied Root.

Sameen nodded her head but then she stopped.

"Wait, you know Cole. How?"

"Well we spoke the other night." Root replied nonchalantly.

Sameen kept staring at Root for a while but she finally understood that she just been played.

"So that's what this was about. This was the plan all along. You somehow managed to convince Cole didn't you. I'm going to kill him the next time I see him." Sameen seemed furious.

"It's not really his fault you know. I said I missed you and He was just trying to help."

Sameen looked up at Root's sad smiling face and realized that maybe she had been unknowingly a little bit cruel to Root. She should have told her that she was probably going to be busy. She could see in Root's eyes that the time spent apart had been rough for her. So she finally decided to confess a little bit of how she felt as well.

"I missed you too."

Root immediately rushed forward to hug her and barely caught herself in time. She knew that Sameen wasn't particularly fond of physical affection.

Sameen stared at her for a second and finally gave in.

"Oh fine, you can hug me, but just this one time."

And the Maiden hugged Death.

A little while later, they both were sitting next to the truck. Root had gotten steaks, which was Sameen's favorite.

"You know, I thought you were mad at me for all of this." Root pointed towards the truck, "and when you didn't show up I thought you'd left me." Root was almost about to cry again.

Sameen stopped eating her steak and looked at Root.

"To be honest I was a little mad but I can't stay mad at you forever." Sameen smiled at Root.

Root grinned widely.

"But you can't keep doing this, sooner or later you're going to get caught."

"It's been nearly a year, no one's caught me yet. Besides I always knew I wouldn't have a very long life span in this line of work and if I die then I can be with you. So it's a win win, right?"

Sameen could see that Root really didn't care about dying but strangely Death wasn't in a hurry to collect her soul.

"Well maybe you should take a break for a while, just for my sake."

"But if I take a break how would I meet you." Root was sounding worried again.

Sameen thought about it for a while.

"Tell you what. If you promise to stop then I'll come and see you every other day, how about that?"

Root's eyes lit up.

"Seriously, you would do that."

"Yeah, why not, I'm sure Cole would love the extra work, as long as you keep your side of the bargain."

Root didn't even need to think about it.

"Deal" and smiling she went back to finishing her steak.

And Death was a being of its word. Sameen showed up every other day to meet her and Root had never been happier in her life. But through all the time they spent together, they both somehow felt that this happiness wouldn't last for long and they were right.

* * *

><p>The shadow world is a strange place. It's always interested about the real world and it often picks up things from the physical realm out of sheer curiosity. But nothing of any substance can remain permanently in the shadow realm. Sooner or later once the denizens of the shadow world got bored of their current toy they would drop it back into the real world and that is exactly what they did with the bodies that they had picked up from Root.<p>

They dropped two of the bodies in very remote parts of the globe but by some strange coincidence they dropped the third one right back in the city near a garbage dump.

Lionel got a call about it the next day after one of the workers of the sanitation department found the body.

It was early morning when Lionel and Martine reached the crime scene. They were both intrigued and horrified upon seeing the state of the deceased. It was like nothing they had ever seen. The body had deep gashes on it but it seemed to be completely drained of blood. Also the brain was missing. But even though the body had been through a lot they were able to pull prints of it.

Once the body was in the morgue, the cause of death turned out to be a simple puncture to the back of the neck. All the other damage had been done post mortem. But even the M.E. couldn't explain the gashes at all. He couldn't even identify what type of animal it could have been.

Martine and Lionel were getting nowhere with the case. They decided to wait till the prints came back which was going to take a couple days due to the backlog. But when the report did come in it almost felt like Christmas had come early.

Lionel rushed towards his desk with the report to tell give Martine the good news.

"You're not going to believe this."

"What?" Martine stopped filling in her report and looked up at Fusco.

"I just got the prints back. It's Jacob Calloway."

Martine got up off the chair.

"Kenny's Jacob?" Martine almost shouted in her excitement.

"Yeah, we just got our first real lead, Martine." Fusco sounded equally excited.

After nearly two months of toiling away at a case that seemingly led nowhere they had finally lucked out. Now they actually had a chance of catching this mystery woman.


End file.
